Separator for collated articles.



PATENTED JAN. 14, 1908.

B. F. ENNIS. SEPARATOR FOR GOLLATED ARTICLES.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 20, 1907.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

I ml Ill. 1

Jifiorney- PATENTED JAN. 14, 1903.

B. F. ENNIS.

SBPARATOR FOR GOLLATBD ARTICLES.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 20, 1907. I

.2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

M'imesses.

THE NURR 0-, WASHIMGYON. n. L.

BENJAMIN F. ENNIS, OF'SYRAGUSE, NEW YORK.

SEPABATOR FOR COLLATED ARTICLES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 14, 1908.

Application filed May 20, 1907- $erial No. 374679.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN F. ENNIs, of Syracuse, in the county of Onondaga, in the State of New York,.have invented new and useful Improvements in Separators for Collated Articles, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a full, clear, and exactdescription.

This invention relates to certain improve ments in separators for collated articles and contemplates the separation and feeding of any predetermined number of promiscuously collected units at regular predetermined intervals, such for instance, as the separation and depositing of a predetermined number of seeds at regular intervals or distances apart in the ground.

The generic object of my present invention is to separate the seeds or other articles or units by means of a rotary inclined hopper and one or more selectors or conveyers carried by the hopper in which said articles are placed promiscuously, by hand or otherwise. In other words, I have sought to associate the selectors with the hopper in such manner that the seeds or other articles will automatically gravitate into the selectors and be carried thereby in predetermined quantities or numbers upwardly from the bulk of the seeds or other articles and deposited in such predetermined quantities into a chute or passage leading from the hopper.

A further object is to provide means synchronized with the movement of the hopper and its selectors for recollecting and discharging predetermined quantities or numbers of such articles in the ground, or to any other locality, according to the nature of the articles which it is desired to separate and distribute.

Other objects and uses relating to the construction and operation of the various parts of the device will be brought out in the following description.

In the drawings-Figure 1 is a side elevation of a portion of a seed-planter embodying the various features of my invention. Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on line 22, Fig. 1, showing particularly the front end of the hopper and its actuating means, and also showing the selector-actuating devices. Fig. 3 is an enlarged vertical sectional view through the hopper and adjacent portion of the supporting frame, showing also the actuating {means for the hopper, and auxiliary feed. Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on line 44, Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional view taken on line 55, Fig. 1.

In carrying out the objects stated, a cylindrical hopper 1 is provided with a bottom -2- disposed in an inclined plane and having a central hub 3 which is journaled upon a fixed tubular bearing 4 forming a part of a supporting frame 5.

As previously stated, the bottom of the hopper is disposed in an inclined plane, or rather, is inclined from a vertical plane, while the sides of the hopper are preferabl cylindrical and form with the bottom, a ho low drum into which the seeds or other articles are placed promiscuously by hand, or otherwise, through an opening 6 in what may be termed, the rear of the hopper.

A series of, in this instance, six rocking selectors or angular plates 7 are journaled at 8 in the bottom of the hopper or drum close to the circular sides thereof, and are movable into and out of engagement with fixed companion plates -9, which are also angular, and secured to the bottom of the hopper to form a series of, in this instance six, separate compartments or pockets 10. In other words, I have provided the hopper or drum 1 with a series of, in this instance six, pockets spaced equidistant apart close to the bottom 2 of which the circular sides of the drum form the outer walls and each pocket is provided with a movable gate or section 7 hinged at 8 to the bottom 2. These pockets are open toward the mouth or rear side of the hopper to permit the entrance of the seeds, or other articles to be separated, by gravity during the rotation of the hopper; that is, the open sides of the pockets face rearwardly and upwardly while the bottom of the hopper forms the bottoms of the pockets.

The inner sides of each pocket nearest the axis of rotation of the hopper is spaced apart some distance from the shell 1 to permit the entrance and retention of a number of seeds or articles to be separated and distributed, the ends of said pockets being deflected or offset laterally or outwardly against the inner face of the shell 1 to prevent circumferential displacement of said seeds or articles while being carried upwardly by the pocket.

The movable section, as 7-, of each pocket which is journaled. close to the shell 1 is movable into and out of engagement with the inner face of the adiacent end of the fixed section 9 and is of such capacity as to receive and retain a single one of the seeds or articles to be separated.

and constitutes the rear end of the pocket,-

or that opposite to the direction of rotation of the hopper. These movable gate-sections 7 are adapted to be closed against the fixed sections 9 while traveling around the low side of the hopper and re main in this closed position until they are carried up to, approximately the highest point of the hopper, where they are caused to be tilted to discharge the seed or other article which may be carried upwardly thereby from the bottom of said hopper. In order to accomplish this movement each gate 7 is rigidly secured to a spindle 8, which. is journaled in a suitable aper ture or bearing in the bottom 2- of the hopper and is provided at its front or lower side with a pawl 12, weighted at 13, and provided with an arm 14, which engages, or rather, rides upon a concentric substantially semi-circular track 15 at the bottom or lower side of the hopper for positively holding the movable gates 7 in their closed position against the fixed section 9 of the pockets 10 while traveling around the low side of the hopper, the weights 18 performing a similar function, while the filled pockets are traveling upward to the top of the hopper.

It sometimes happens that a seed or other article to be separated is caught between the movable section -7 and fixed section 9 and carried in this position upwardly and in order that it may be released before reaching the extreme upperside of the hopper, I provide one or more fixed agitator stops 11, which in this instance, are' secured to part of the supporting frame 5 and project into the path of the pawls 12 so as to open the gate slightlv enough to release the seed or article thus caught, but not sufiicient to permit the discharge of the articles from the pocket, or such article as may be held within the gate 7. A second fixed tripping finger 6 is secured to the frame near the top of the hopper and in the path of the pawls 12-, said stop finger beingnearer the swinging axis of the gate 7 than the fingers 11 so as to completely open. the gate 7 and permit the discharge of the seed or article held thereby into an underlying fixed chute 17 which is rigidly secured to the fixed tubular bearing 4 of the frame 5,

said chute extending upwardly and radially from the inner or upper end of the tube 4 into proximity to the plane of travel of the pockets 10 the upper end of the chute 17- being open and being of sufficient circumferential length to assure the reception of the seeds and other articles as they are discharged by the opening of the movable gates 7-.

It is now clear that the hopper 1 is provided with a series of pockets traveling in an inclined plane, each pocket receiving a limited number of seeds or other articles to be separated which are fed thereinto by gravity at the bottom of the hopper and are conveyed. upwardly to a point directly over the open end of the chute 17 into which a predetermined number of seeds or other articles are deposited or discharged by the automatic opening of the movable gate -7 as soon as the corresponding pocket is brought directly over the chute, the movable gates being held closed through the medium of the pawls 12 riding on the track 15 aided. by the weights 13 until they reach a point directly over the mouth of the chute 17, whereupon such gates are positively and automatically opened. by the engagement of the pawls 12 with the tripping linger or arm 16, as best seen in Figs. 2 and 3.

The hopper -1, together with the parts carried. thereby may be rotated by any suitable means, but in this instance, is driven from the main shaft 21 of the traction.

wheel 22 through the medium of gears 24, a shaft -25 and spur gears 26-, one of the gears 26 being secured to the hub 3 of the drum or hopper As a further means for supporting and feeding the seeds or other articles in predetermined quantities or numbers, I provide a second chute or hollow tubular gu de -23 which in this instance, is disposed in a vertical position and communicates with the inclined tubular guide 4 leading from the bottom of the chute 17 so that the seeds or other articles which are deposited into the chute -].7 fall by gravity along the bottom of the guide 4- and into the upright chute or delivery tube 23, which, when used as a seed planter terminates at its lower end. in proximity to the surface of the ground and is provided. near its lower end with a bottom 28 having an opening -29 therein to permit the discharge of the seeds from the delivery tube upon the ground.

A vertical shaft 30 is journaled centrally within the delivery tube in a suitable bearing 31 at the upper end of the tube above the inclined chute 4, and this shaft is provided with one or more vanes or fins 32, also extending from the point above the bottom of the chute -4- into proximity to the bottom of the delivery tube, the edges of said vanes or fins traveling in close proximity to the inner surface of the delivery tube -23 to sweep or brush the seeds which may accumulate on the bottom n8 into the opening 29- from whence they fall onto the surface of the ground, or into a suitable furrow previously made by a plow-point 35 on the frame of the machine. This shaft 30 may be rotated by any suitable means, here shown as consisting of bevel gears 36 secured respectively to the upper end of the shaft 30 and to the hub -3 of the drum 1 so that rotation of the shaft 30 is synchronized with that of the hopper.

In this particular instance, I have shown the hopper and gates therein as adapted to successively discharge one seed at a time into the chute 17 whereby a number of, in this instance six, seeds or other articles are selected and discharged into the chute 17 from whence they are precipitated by gravity along the bottom of the inclined chute 4 into the delivery tube 23.

It is now clear that by properly proportioning the gears 24- and 26 the drum or hopper 1 may be rotated any number of revolutions or fraction thereof at each revolution or fraction of such revolution of the traction wheel 22 and in this instance, I have shown the gears 24 as of equal size, while the gears 26 are proportioned to rotate the drum or hopper1 one-half revolution at each revolution of the traction wheel 22 thereby discharging a plurality of, in this instance three, seeds or other articles at each complete revolution of the traction wheel 22, the periphery of which may be of any desired length, as for instance three feet, whereby a series of three seeds may be deposited upon the ground in hills three feet apart. It is evident, however, that many other mechanisms may be employed for discharging the seeds at regular intervals or in hills, and while I have shown and described a specific mechanism, I do not limit myself thereto. In like manner the gears 36 may be proportioned so as to rotate the shaft 30 any predetermined number of revolutions or fraction thereof during each revolution of the hopper 1, but as shown in the drawings, these gears 36 are arranged to rotate the shaft -30 one-half revolution at each half revolution of the hopper so as to discharge a predetermined number of, in this instance three, seeds which have been deposited upon the bottom of the delivery tube through the discharge opening 29. This action of the shaft 30 may be either intermittent or continuous and I have shown it continuous for the reason that ample time is given for the discharge of the seeds along the incline 4 into the delivery tube 23 between each revolution of the shaft, the seeds being deposited into the side of the delivery tube nearest the chute 4-, at which side the bottom 28- is closed, the seeds falling upon such bottom and are immediately or subsequently scraped or brushed laterally by the blades 32- into the discharge opening 30, whence the seeds fall upon the ground. This discharge of the seeds may be further regulated by means of a gate 40 movable across the discharge opening 29 and having an opening therein adapted to be brought 1 into registration with said discharge opening, said gate being in this instance, actuated at regular intervals by means of a lever 41 and an actuating member 42 on the shaft 25, said gate being opened at each revolution of the shaft 25 and traction wheel 22-, or at each half revolution of the drum 1 so as to permit the discharge of three seeds at each operation, or rather, at each revolution of the traction wheel 22. Any other suitable mechanism may be employed to vary the time of action of the gate 40- so as to deposit a greater or less number of seeds for a given distance of travel of the machine over the surface of the ground, and therefore, I do not wish to limit myself to the exact device herein shown and described.

The operation of my invention will now be readily understood upon reference to the foregoing description and the accompanying drawing, which are in such clear and exact terms as to enable anyone skilled in the art to make and use the same.

WVhat I claim is:

1. In a separator for collated articles, a rotary hopper containing the collated articles and rovided with an open pocket receiving a limited number of said articles, said pocket having a movable gate and means to open said gate at regular intervals in the rotation of the hopper for discharging a predetermined number of said articles from the pocket, and means to receive said discharged articles to conduct them away from the hopper.

2. In a separator for collated articles, a rotary inclined hopper having a series of pockets traveling in an inclined plane, each pocket having a portion of one side movable, and means for actuating said movable side during the rotation of the hopper.

3. In a separator for collated articles, a rotary ho per and actuating means therefor, a series 0 movable gates in the hopper each adapted to receive and. retain a predetermined number of said articles during a part of one revolution of the hopper, and means for opening said gate to discharge said articles during the rotation of the hopper.

4. A separator for collated articles comprising a revoluble drum and actuating means therefor, said drum having its bottom disposed in an inclined plane, a series of rocking gates journaled in said bottom in close proximity thereto, and means for rocking said gates during the rotation of the drum.

5. A separator for collated articles comprising a rotary hopper having its axis disposed in an inclined plane and adapted to contain the collated articles, a fixed chute within the drum and a series of movable selectors mounted in the drum each selecting and conveying a predetermined number of said articles from the bottom of the drum to a position over the mouth of the chute, and means for o erating said selectors to discharge the artic es therefrom as they are successively brought to a position over the mouth of the chute, whereby said articles fall into said chute.

6. A separator for collated articles comprising a fixed chute, and a rotary hopper containing the articles to be separated and disposed in an inclined plane, said hopper having a series of movable selectors each conveying a limited number of articles from the bottom to the top of the hopper, means for rotating the hopper and additional means for actuating the selectors to discharge'the articles therefrom as they are successively brought to a position over the mouth of the chute, whereby said articles fall into the chute.

7. A separator for collated articles comprising a rotary hopper revolving about an inclined axis and provided with an axial opening,'a chute within the hopper and communicating with said opening and a series of movable selectors revolving with the hopper, each selecting a predetermined num ber of seeds and conveying them upwardly over the mouth of the chute, means for rotating the hopper, and additional means for operating said selectors to discharge the articles therefrom as they are successively brought into registration with the mouth of the chute.

8. A separator for collated articles comprising a rotary hopper rotating about an inclined axis and adapted to contain a quantity of articles to be collated, means to rotate said hopper, a chute extending axially through the center of the bottom of the hopper and provided with a radial ofi set located within the hopper and open at its outer end, a movable selector within and rotating within the hopper to and from a position over the open end of the ofiset of the chute for supporting and conveying a predetermined number of said articles into registration with the open end of said offset, and means for operating said selector to discharge the article therefrom into the opening of the offset of the chute when brought into registration therewith.

9. A separator for collated articles comprising a hopper rotatable about an inclined axis and provided with an axial opening, a movable selector within and rotating with the hopper to select and convey a predeterminednumber of said articles from the bottom to the top of the hopper, means for rotating the hopper, and additional means for operating the selector when it is brought to the top of the hopper to discharge the article therefrom, and further means for receiving said discharged article and conducting it to the opening in the center of the hopper.

10. A separator for collated articles comprising a fixed tubular bearing constituting a guide, a chute communicating with said bearing and open at the top, a hopper revolving about said bearing and chute and adapted to contain the collated articles, means for rotating said hopper, a series of gates revolving with the hopper and adapted to receive and convey a limited predetermined number of said articles from the collation over the mouth of said chute, and means for opening said gate when registered. with the mouth of the chute to discharge the article from said gate into said chute.

11. A separator for collated articles comprising a fixed tubular bearing constituting a guide, a chute communicating with said bearing and open at the top, a hopper revolving about said bearing and chute and adapted to contain the collated articles, means for rotating said hopper, a series of gates revolving with the hopper and adapted to receive and convey a limited predetermined number of said articles from the collation over the mouth of said chute, and means for opening said gate when registered with the mouth of the chute to discharge the article from said gate into said chute, a delivery tube having a bottom provided with an open: ing in one side, and movable means in the tube for forcing the articles discharged thereinto into registration with said opening.

12. A separator comprising a delivery tube and an inclined chute communicating therewith, an upright chute communicating with the inclined chute, a hopper inclosing the upright chute, means to rotate the hopper and a series of movable gates rotating with the hopper and each adapted to receive and convey a predetermined number of said articles from the collation within the hopper into registration with the mouth of the upright chute, and further means for opening said gates as they are successively brought into registration with the mouth of said upright chute whereby the articles fall by gravity thereinto.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 10th day of May 1907.

BENJAMIN F. ENNIS.

Witnesses:

H. E. CHASE, C. M. McOoRMAcK. 

